


No One Can Hurt You

by itsnotreallyme



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Skye has anxiety, night out gone wrong, takes place when daisy is still skye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:49:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26066035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsnotreallyme/pseuds/itsnotreallyme
Summary: Skye has been part of the team for a few months and it's Jemma's birthday so the team goes out to a bar to celebrate. Skye's anxiety is triggered by large groups of people drinking, but doesn't tell anyone. May knows something is wrong and keeps an eye on Skye.*TW: brief description of an anxiety attack
Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 118





	No One Can Hurt You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first shot at writing something like this, so please be kind! Any suggestions are welcome

Skye doesn’t like going to bars. She never has, and she definitely never had a drink at one. Sure, she’ll have a drink or two with friends, but always in her van or at an apartment. The idea of being in a place where people congregate to get drunk fills her with anxiety to her very core. So when Simmons’s birthday came around and the group were all going to a local bar, she was hesitant to say the least. Skye had only been on the bus a few months and in that time the team had never gone out. None of them knew about her anxiety, much about her past, or how bars were a big trigger for her. But Jemma was so excited to finally have a night out without worrying about work, and she didn’t want to ruin that for her. Plus, she’d be with the team the whole time. _“Everything will be fine,”_ Skye told herself, _“...Right?”_

The night comes and off they got-Fitz, Simmons, Skye, May, and Coulson. Skye offered to be the Designated Driver so she wouldn’t have to drink. Ward would’ve come, but he was sick with the flu. He wishes Simmons a quick ‘happy birthday’ before they all leave and he returns to his bunk. Jemma is practically bouncing to the car-her paper birthday crown very nearly toppling off her head. (Fitz and Simmons apparently had a tradition with the hat that, frankly, Skye didn’t understand.)

“Here we are. Let’s go!” Coulson announces as he parks the large vehicle in the bar parking lot. Skye takes a deep breath to calm the knot already forming in her stomach before following the team inside.

_“See, this is fine. Everything’s fine.”_ Skye reassures herself as the team sits at an empty table. The place is fairly empty, but it’s still early.

“Okay, I’ll get the first round. Skye, want a soda or anything?” Coulson asks.

“Yeah a soda’s fine. I’ll have a Coke or whatever they have.” Skye responds, perhaps a tad too quickly because May looks over, a confused look on her face. Skye tries to look as normal as possible, knowing May would figure her out in no time if she didn’t do better to act like she was enjoying herself. She knows that May is already paying extra attention to her since she offered to be designated driver for her best friend’s birthday celebration, but she hasn’t said anything. _“Yet”_ her brain quickly supplies.

“Ok everyone, let’s go get signed up.” Jemma declares, clapping her hands once to gather attention.

_Wait, what?_ “What do you mean? Sign up for what?” Skye asks, a small shake in her voice. If it was what she thought, this is not going to end well.

“Karaoke! I told you on the way over that on Monday nights they have karaoke.”

_Fuck._ “Oh I must have been zoned out.”

“So let’s go! I don’t want to wait all night because we didn’t sign up fast enough!” Simmons grabs Fitz and pulls him over to the karaoke machine. Skye looks over at May. _I bet Simmons won’t be able to get her to sing._ Coulson walks back carrying a small tray of drinks. _Now him, maybe._

“Here’s your soda, Skye, and here are the drinks for--Wait? Where are Fitz and Simmons?”

“They went to sign up for karaoke. I was about to head over myself. Want to join me?” Skye tries to be casual while also trying to convey that she really doesn’t want to do this but if she has to, then she is dragging him along with her.

“Umm sure. May, you coming?” Coulson asks, already knowing the answer before the words even leave his mouth. May’s response is clear in her ‘are you really asking me that?’ expression. Coulson shrugs and he and Skye leave to find Fitz and Simmons. They find the pair deep in debate over which song they should sing so Skye steps in,

“Why not sing both? It doesn’t look like there’s a huge line of people waiting. Just do two songs.”

“I guess that makes sense. But we’re doing my song first because it’s my birthday.” Fitz nods his accession and Simmons quickly scribbles their names with their two song choices.

“So, what are you going to sing?” Skye asks Coulson, trying to delay the inevitable moment in which she would have to sign up herself.

“Oh I don’t know. I just thought I would pick one at random. I don’t really do karaoke but it is Jemma’s birthday so..” Coulson trails off. Skye nods and Phil begins flipping through the book of song titles available. After a few moments he quickly writes his name and the name of some random song from the 70s. Skye is hesitant to choose a song, but it was for her friend, and by the time she sang they wouldn’t be paying attention to her, right? She quickly wrote the name of the shortest song she could find and rushed back to the table. The pit in her stomach was beginning to grow without her friends surrounding her. Sitting down at the table, Skye quickly reaches for her soda and takes a large gulp before tuning into the conversation around her. _Everything’s ok, Skye. You are safe here with your friends, and no one is really even drunk yet. It will all turn out fine._ As Skye turns her head to look over at Fitz, who is arguing with Coulson about which Star Wars film is the best, Skye notices May watching her again. _It’s just one night._

The team have been at the bar for three hours, and passed the point of no return about an hour ago. Fitzsimmons probably wouldn’t even know their own names right now if asked, and Coulson is slurring every other word. May seems fine, but she hasn’t been drinking. She is alternating keeping an eye on Skye and drunk-Coulson. The place has really filled up, and everyone is walking around, talking to each other as if they are all friends. Skye hasn’t heard a single thing anyone has said in the past hour, her heart racing in her ears. She’s doing everything she can to keep it together. _Maybe it’ll be easier to calm down in the bathroom, away from everyone._ Skye softly excuses herself and tries not to rush in the direction of the ladies room. She quickly locks herself in a bathroom stall, tucks her feet up, and focuses on her breathing.

Something is wrong with Skye. May isn’t quite sure what exactly is wrong, but she knows she’s right. For the few months Skye has been part of the team, she has gone into every situation-work and non-work related-head first with all the enthusiasm in the world. But since Skye found out about tonight, she’s been quiet, reserved. She even volunteered to be designated driver! What 22 year old volunteers to not drink at their best friend’s birthday? May decided not to say anything, but made sure to pay close attention to Skye the whole night.

On the drive to the bar, Skye was very quiet and looked out the window the whole drive, clearly not paying attention to the conversations within the vehicle. This was confirmed later when she had no idea they were going to do karaoke-a fact Jemma was very excited about and mentioned numerous times on the 30 minute drive to the bar. Since they arrived at the bar, Skye hasn’t stopped fidgeting, she jumps at every little noise, and she hasn’t spoken unless spoken to first (normal for May, but very unusual for Skye).

About three (very long) hours into the night, Skye quickly excuses herself to head to the restroom while Fitzsimmons are very drunkenly singing their fourth karaoke song of the night. May decides to follow her to make sure everything is alright.

In the bathroom, May stands at the sinks waiting for Skye. She adjusts her hair in the mirror, not for any real reason other than it’s something to do. Skye walks out of the stall having calmed herself down, the pit in her stomach shrunken back to a manageable size once again, when she sees May standing in front of her. The pit of anxiety once more begins to grow. She walks to the sink and washes her hands, hoping to God May doesn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. The pair stand in silence as Skye dries her hands, neither wanting to be the first to speak. May and Skye haven’t had much one on one time in the few months since Skye’s arrival, so Skye still isn’t sure how to act around her.

“I know something’s wrong.” May eventually says. Skye’s voice is shaking when she responds,

“No. I’m fine.”

“Well that was convincing.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Skye’s face hardened. Her heartbeat was racing.

“Ok. We can stay here-without talking-until you’re ready to go out. But if you do want to talk, I’m here. I won’t judge, whatever it is.” Skye tries to calm herself down but only manages to get even more worked up, tears beginning to make their way down Skye’s face and her breath coming faster. Skye is so quiet she almost whispers when she says,

“I don’t like bars.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had a few foster homes where the husband would drink a lot and get physically violent. Now I can’t be in large groups of people drinking unless I trust them. I’m fine when we all have a drink or two on the plane because I do trust you guys, but I can’t do bars.” Skye confessed, not looking at May because she didn’t want to see how pathetic May thinks she is.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” _Wait, what?_

“It was a long time ago. I should be over it already.” Skye’s tried and true self-deprecation on full display.

“There’s no time limit on these things. Doesn’t matter if it happened years ago or yesterday; if it affects you, those feelings are valid.” Skye sniffles, still trying to calm down.

“Thanks.”

“If all this affects you so much, why didn’t you say anything?”

“You saw how excited Simmons was. I wasn’t about to rain on her parade. And I hoped everything would be alright as long as I stayed with the group, but I guess I was wrong.” The tears still stream down Skye’s face, her breath coming too fast, and May makes a decision.

“Ok. You go to the car and get in the passenger seat. I’ll gather everyone and get them to the car. We should be leaving soon anyway. I’ll tell Phil you don’t feel well so I’m going to drive home instead of you. He’s had a few more drinks than usual so he probably won’t question it. Fitzsimmons definitely won’t notice. I only had one drink three hours ago so I’m fine to drive. Ok? Let’s go.” May leapt into action as she watched Skye, the young girl who had wormed her way into her heart faster than she thought possible, slowly make her way to the parking lot, fidgeting with a hair tie the whole way.

“Phil, we need to leave. Skye isn’t feeling well. It could be nothing, but it might be the flu that Ward has. Could you get Fitzsimmons?” May asks, speaking lower than usual to be heard over the loud music playing.

“Of course. I’ll jus’ go get ‘em.” He replied, slurring slightly, but otherwise seemingly fine. Coulson gathers the two scientists and they all head out. May jumps in the driver’s seat and Phil gets himself and Fitzsimmons situated in the back. While they are distracted, May focuses on Skye, who is curled up in the passenger seat, facing toward the window. Quietly she asks,

“Are you okay?”

“I wanna go home.” Skye answers, her shaky voice quiet and thick with tears. _Well at least she can hear me,_ May concedes before checking that the agents in back are ready to go and proceeds to pull out of the parking lot and onto the highway. _Only 30 more minutes. Hang on, Skye. Just a little bit longer._

Skye is doing everything she can to hold it together, but her very drunk friends have brought the smell of alcohol with them, so Skye can’t even think about calming down or using any of her techniques to stop an anxiety attack. Every bump in the road makes her flinch. She tries to soak up May’s calming presence, but there’s too much around her for it to be of any real help.

Faster than what should have been possible, May pulls into the base. “Phil can you get those two in bed and settled?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it.” With that squared away, May focused her attention on Skye. She climbs out of the front seat and walks around to the passenger side.

“Skye, we’re here. I’m going to bring you to your bunk.” May soothes, trying not to startle the young girl who seems not to realize the car has stopped and that only she and May are left in the garage. Skye climbs out of the car and allows May to guide her through the base to her bunk. The first room she’s ever had all to herself. Her first safe place (other than her van, of course, but even that had a sense of vulnerability to it.) Where she never feels afraid.

“Let’s get you in some comfier clothes.” May leaves Skye standing in the middle of the room to find a pair of yoga pants and an old sweater. Skye quickly changes and May guides her to the bed. May climbs in next to her, realizing the girl is shaking.

“Is this okay? I can leave-”

“No. Please stay.” May relaxes into the bed and wraps her arms around the girl with tears that have returned to her cheeks.

“It’s okay. You’re safe. No one can hurt you.” Skye's sobs become louder.

“It’s okay. You’re safe. No one can hurt you.” Skye tightens her grip on May.

“It’s okay. You’re safe. No one can hurt you.”

Eventually Skye managed to fall asleep wrapped up in May’s arms, her voice the soft lullaby needed to lull her to sleep. There would be a lot to talk about in the morning, but right now all either of them needed was a good night’s sleep and each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!


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